.}

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Finishes - can you tell the difference?

I have always gravitated to pale woods and painted furniture, so when I saw a painted chest of drawers in person at a store in Atlanta, I thought it would be a great addition to my house. The design of the chest is lovely, and the stone top made it even more special.

Here is a picture of the finish on the chest at the store. It is a smooth finish, linen in tone with kind of an umber wash on it:

Click on picture for closeup


The above finish is what I thought that I was ordering, but the chest I ended up ordering (mistakenly) was a different finish. More weathered and more of a creamy parchment color. It is so hard to tell from those little tiny finish samples! Here are the pictures of the chest that I ordered:

click on picture for closeup


The store will switch it out for me, but I was wondering if anyone can tell the difference from these pictures? One was taken with my cell phone, one with a nice camera, so the playing field is not even.



Side by side comparison. Good camera upper pic (it shows as left on my preview), bad camera down (or right). But, hopefully you can see that the one on the up/left is very creamy, almost light light yellow in tone, thick crusty weathered finish. The one on the right/down is a different tone, more umber and ivory.

Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated!

Which do you prefer?

23 comments:

  1. I like the one at the store. But I don't know which was taken with what. :-)

    Mari-Nanci

    ReplyDelete
  2. There is not a bad choice - both finishes seem really nice to me. Personal choice - whichever you choose. It's a great piece - hooray!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the wood work. I like the one from the store a lot better.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for the opinions! Keep them coming!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gorgeous find! I *think* I prefer the colour in the store, but then which goes better with the room you want it for?

    ReplyDelete
  6. are you SURE there are two finishes - the top isn't bleached out by the sun or anything? if you like the top better - would they just swap the piece?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am double checking with the store, because the finishes are hand applied and there is a chance that they are called the same, but they just look different because they were done at different points in time.

    But, the one in the store has more of the glaze over cream look, and the one that was delivered has more of a parchment thickly applied paint look, with some sanded down areas and distressing.

    The one in the store is a smooth look, the one I have is very thick and crusty.

    The one in the store is more towards ivory/taupe in tone, the one I have is cream/parchment/faintly yellowish.

    They translate very similarly in pictures, so there probably isn't much difference! It is just that I was expecting like what I saw in the store, and what I got was different.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hmmm, I get an ivory/yellow/parchment from the special order and a greenish tone to the one from the store. Both very nice, but the greenish tone pops the wood work more for me. And I just like to say "linen."

    ReplyDelete
  9. E&E - good analysis. Both very nice, but since this is something I will have a long, long time, I want the nicest one. Yes, it is a matter of personal preference. But I wanted to get validation that I wasn't being too nitpicky. They are different, in their subtle ways.

    Passementeriesdiary, they are both so neutral that it is hard to say which would go better. As E&E pointed out, they have their own tonal quality and look. It does not translate to the picture, but the store one has a very smooth, glazed finish. The special order one has a distressed and layered finish - it is truly layers of paint very well applied, but it has a certain look to it.

    Maybe I should put the special order one in my bedroom, and get the one in the store for my front hall! Actually, I have my heart set on the Amy Howard chest for my bedroom, so that won't work!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's a beautiful piece! I personally prefer the one with the warmer, creamy-yellow tones since the one in the store translates much cooler and gray on my screen, but don't like the sounds of the thickly applied layers of paint.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I like both finishes...but like you said it can be hard to tell when you're not seeing it in person. Like Passementeriesdiary says, it depends on the room you want it for!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, that's hard, but maybe the one from the store?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Both are lovely...but I always tend to gravitate toward the warmer tones. Since the store is willing to switch them out, go with what you love! Gorgeous chest, by the way! (hee)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks to each and every one of you for responding to this question! As many of you said, it is just a matter of personal preference.

    It turns out that I inadventently ordered the heavily distressed parchment color. (They have three levels of distressing - weathered, which is more glazed than distressed; a medium level, and the rustic level). I am not really a rustic type, so this was definitely an error on my part. The finish of the one in the store is a linen finish, and the distressing is probably the medium level. I am still working it out. But a more experienced salesperson told me that people who know this company know that the parchment reads as a yellowish tone on the large pieces, like this chest. Oh well, we live and learn!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hope it all turns out, but whatever the finish, the piece is beautiful. Gorgeous detail!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I prefer the greenish-grey toned one (the one in the store). But I always prefer the "murky" shades. The other hue is truly beautiful, but it seems completely different - less subdued, more feminine.
    Like most people have said, it's such a matter of personal taste. I know I would prefer the one you thought you were getting!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I prefer the linen finish. Good luck to you whichever chest you end up with. They are both beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The piece is beautiful and I (no help here) like both finishes. I guess it would boils down to is which will be a better fit for your home? Don't settle...if you like the first piece, maybe they'll swap. Keep us posted and do show us once its in your home. I'd love to see which you decided on.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I am still trying to decide. They will order a new chest, and put the other one in the store, for a 25% restock fee. I think this is fair, as I got exactly what I ordered. It turns out, I was focusing on color, not realizing that the company that makes the chest has three levels of finish, ranging from just weathered to outright rustic. I told them I wanted it just like the picture in the catalog (color wise), and they ordered it that way - and the picture in the catalog was the rustic finish. This translates to heavy distressed paint application, a look that some people like. I am more in the camp of the weathered look. More of a glazed look. The rustic look is very unique and customized, I just don't think it is me. When the sunlight falls on this piece, which is from about 11 am - 2 pm, I think it looks awful - you can see all of the heavy paint. The rest of the day, it looks fine, and in the evening it is beautiful.

    I will decide by Monday. I have definitely lived and learned with this experience, but I have to take responsibility - I got exactly what I ordered. Finishes are so tricky!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Where would I be able to find this piece of furniture? It's beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  21. where did you get the chest?

    ReplyDelete
  22. This is the Murano Chest, made by Hickory Chair. It is a great piece of furniture! I have seen it in red, weathered French gray, parchment, and linen. It looks great in all of those finishes. You can get it at any retailer that sells Hickory Chair, and you can see it online at Mecox Gardens.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments! I strive to make my blog positive in tone, and appreciate the same courtesy when comments are made. Thank you!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails